Spruce Grove ballpark, refund delays frustrate season-ticket holders

Some Energy City Cactus Rats season ticket holders are demanding refunds. After years of delays, the team's promised ballpark in Spruce Grove is still not open.

Season-ticket holders for an Edmonton-area baseball club are demanding refunds because its new ballpark is still under construction and may not be ready to open this season as promised.

Jennifer Vachon and Sandie Miller both bought season tickets for the Energy City Cactus Rats in anticipation of watching the Western Canada Baseball League team in a new ballpark being built in Spruce Grove.

The problem is construction of the stadium isn’t finished, and from the looks of it, it won’t be ready this season.

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Vachon spent $1,600 for four season tickets in 2023, when the team was known as the Edmonton Prospects and its new home field was under construction and had been for more than a year at that point.

The Spruce Grove resident said she and her family were excited by the idea of watching games in a new stadium with promises of on-site entertainment, a microbrewery and an outdoor amphitheatre.

However, that was then. It’s two years later and the stadium sits partly finished on the eastern edge of the town a 10-minute drive from Edmonton’s western city limit.

“It was something we wanted to do as a family, but now, with everything going on and the kids getting older, we just don’t have the time for season tickets anymore,” Vachon told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday. “I’d love to purchase single tickets and come as much as possible.”

Miller said she and her husband are also frustrated they’ve paid for seats that they can’t sit in.

They spent $1,050 on two season seats for home games this year.

Miller said the Cactus Rats anticipated a home-opening game in the new ballpark late last month then pushed the date further and further into July.

“At that point, I said I wanted a refund because I know it’s not going to be open this year and I can’t commit to next year,” she told CTV News Edmonton.

Instead, in an email, the team told Miller it would be playing its first home games July 5 and 6 at Spruce Grove’s Henry Singer Ball Park, where there is no seating. It would cost an additional $30 for both games and people would be allowed to bring their own chairs if they wished.

She said she doesn’t want to “go sit in a field and watch a ball game.”

“I want the whole experience of the stadium and everything they promised,” Miller said.

Miller has been put on a refund list, but in a statement to CTV News Edmonton, the Cactus Rats said “our ticket policies, including those regarding refunds, align with the broader Western Canadian Baseball League standards.”

“Under those guidelines, refunds are not issued, even in cases of venue-related disruptions,” the team wrote, adding “all 2025 season ticket holders have received a full credit toward 2026 season tickets.”

The Cactus Rats said while they’re “deeply disappointed” with their ballpark construction delays, “we’ve continued to press forward with the season at alternate venues.”

The club has played the first six weeks of the WCBL season on the road and used Fort McMurray’s ballpark as their home venue for a clutch of late June games.

The league’s regular season is scheduled to end on Aug. 4 followed by the playoffs. If the season had ended Wednesday, the Cactus Rats – currently fourth place in the West Division with a record of 12-17 – would be in the WCBL post-season.

Still, Vachon says he “doesn’t think it’s right” if she doesn’t get a refund.

“It’s my money, and we’ve just heard nothing, and they are kind of saying that a full credit can be used for next year, but like I said, our life has changed,” she said. “I cannot spend $1,600 in tickets next season, so it’s left me a little sour with them. It’s frustrating.”